I wanted to apply for US citizenship, so I googled "naturalization" and the first website that appeared was "us-immigration.com". The home page had all the insignia of the US government: Statue of Liberty in the top left corner, red-white-blue colors, a menu of forms which all pertained to immigration procedures.
I was asked to pay $189 before I could get the forms. I thought it was part of the naturalization fee, so I entered my debit card number and got access to the forms. A few days later, I went back to the same site to request forms to renew my green card as I was concerned that I might not be naturalized by that time I had to travel out of the country. I was asked to pay $149 to get this new set of forms.
It was not until four months later, when I got my naturalization interview and was able to discuss the matter of these fees with a US immigration officer that I realized all these forms are available to the public for free; also, that I learned that an official US government style ends with ". Gov" instead of ".com".
I am worried that because I processed my forms on line, somebody might have had access to all my official information (SS#, mother's maiden name, address, etc).
I find it particularly egregious that the individuals who set up this site are targeting foreigners, who are more vulnerable and less likely to seek legal recourse. I find equally egregious that Google would allow such fraudulent sites to be listed first when people inquire about naturalization.
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